Jolie's flying skills come under the scanner

Angelina Jolie's flying skills have been questioned by aviation experts, who think she is risking her young children's lives by jetting them around in a plane she's too inexperienced to handle while others feel she has made a safe choice.

The actress owns a 360,000 dollar Cirrus SR-22 and has been spotted taking boyfriend Brad Pitt and kids Maddox, Zahara and baby Shiloh for trips in the speedy jet.

Some top flight instructors are horrified Jolie has chosen such a powerful plane, which is one of the world's fasted single engine aircraft - with just 80 hours flying experience in a Cessna 172, a slow and relatively easy plane to master.

The actress' new plane is capable of speeds of up to 300 miles (483 kilometres) per hour and has caused 10 deaths in just five years through pilot error.

But others insist the Cirrus SR-22's digital navigation system and air-frame parachute make the plane one of the safest in the skies.

"Letting an inexperienced, novice pilot like Angelina Jolie fly it is like giving a Ferrari to a 16-year-old boy," California-based instructor Murray Scott was quoted by Femalfirst, as saying.

"It's a recipe for disaster. It is the fastest plane in its class. It climbs like a missile. Miss Jolie should fly something more sedate for a while. This airplane is a thoroughbred that needs experience to control," he added.

But Jim Campbell, the editor-in-chief of website AeroNews.net, is a huge fan of the Cirrus model - he was one of the first to test the new plane 15 years ago.

He says, "Yes, it's a very high performance plane but it comes equipped with an air-frame parachute which safely gets the craft to the ground; if you get yourself into trouble, you just pull the handle and talk to the insurance company later. (ANI)